Review of Funding to Establish the Federally Facilitated Marketplace

HHS operates the Federally Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) in each State that did not establish and does not operate its own State marketplace. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is accountable for the Federal funds involved in establishing the FFM. A previous OIG audit noted that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not identify all FFM contract costs and did not properly validate the amounts to withhold for defect resolution. We will identify the source and amount of funding used to establish the FFM. We will determine whether HHS had overall visibility and accountability for funds used by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the FFM; whether there were appropriate budgeting and management of these funds; how funds were tracked by HHS and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; and whether the funds were used in accordance with appropriation law with regard to purpose, time, and amount (31 U.S.C. § 1502 and 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a)(1)). In addition, we will determine whether the amount that HHS and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services identified as FFM funding was accurate and complete.